Chhattisgarh Assembly Polls: BJP, Cong Say They Will Win

Raipur, Oct 6 (PTI) The BJP, Congress and the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) Saturday claimed that they would emerge victorious in the Assembly polls slated for November 12 and 20.

Votes will be counted on December 11.

State BJP Chief Dharamlal Kaushik welcomed the Election Commission's announcement claiming that the BJP would form a government for the fourth consecutive time with over 65 seats in the 90-member Assembly.

He said that a "directionless" and "issueless" Congress would be uprooted from Chhattisgarh.

Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel said that, with the announcement of polls, the "reverse countdown" had begun for the Raman Singh government.

While the EC announced that 18 seats would go to polls in the first phase on November 12, the Congress demanded that four more seats be added to this phase.

In the first phase, polling will be held in naxal affected constituencies of Bastar division and Rajnandgaon district.

Four more Maoist-hit constituencies- Kawardha and Pandariya in Kabirdham district, Bindranavgarh in Gariaband district and Sihawa in Dhamtari district, should also be covered in the first phase to ensure peaceful polling, state Congress general secretary Girish Dewangan sought in a letter.

He also said that voting in Rajnandgaon constituency, which falls in an urban area and is free from the naxal menace, should be shifted to the second phase.

The Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J), an outfit formed by former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi, welcomed the poll announcement stating that the BJP would be ousted from power.

"Ajit Jogi will become chief minister after the polls," party MLA Amit Jogi said.

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